It’s purpose was to make sure no one would be sacrificed in order to prevent the Heart of Olga from being one.
So far, there have been only two people with ‘impure blood.’ A woman born between stepmother and son and a man who tried to kill his father.
<Does father think I’m not your blood either?>
Then father burst out laughing.
<As soon as you were born, I saw you make Trikol turn red, so I don’t doubt it.>
<Then please have trust in me. There must have been something wrong that day…>
<That’s why it’s worse! That you’re my daughter…!>
Her father shouted. Emilie, who was extremely skinny, crouched in fear.
The father came up to the shaking Emilie and grabbed her by the collar.
<Fa, Father…>
<The honor of the Duke of Cabezo is with the Trikol. The Emperor knows that, so he wants to use you to shake our family up. You have put our family in trouble!>
<……>
<If it wasn’t for Polia, then it would have been a disaster.>
The father’s hand let go of her. Emilie collapsed helplessly.
In the meantime, Emilie didn’t miss the small bottle her father gave her.
<I thought about why Trikol rejected you. That’s because you’re the ‘impure blood’ that killed your mother with your own hands. Olga wouldn’t want such a awful child.>
<Ah, Father… I really didn’t kill her.>
<Are you still talking about that? It’s the time to be honest. Everyone in the Cabezo duchy knows that you pushed your stepmother down the cliff out of jealousy!>
<I really didn’t do it. I never hated her. I just wanted to be loved by her…>
<You were standing still and suddenly your stepmother fell off pretending to be pushed down by you? That’s enough, now so she shook your hand off and fell down the cliff? Now you changed your excuse.>
Emilie knew what would come next. Emilie closed her eyes tightly.
But nothing happened. Emilie could not believe her father did not hit her. Emilie, who raised her head in question, was startled.
Her father was looking at Emilie with a calm face. Whenever he saw Emilie, he always had a distorted expression, as if he just saw something terrible, but now his face was terrifyingly calm.
<You’ll be in real trouble if His Majesty sends investigators. I don’t want that kind of shame anymore.>
<Father, I will tell the investigators that I am innocent.>
<No. There is no need to do that. The investigation will not be conducted.>
<Pardon?>
<Drink what’s in the bottle.>
<Father, don’t tell me… it’s not, right?>
His daughter begged him, but he refused to answer. It was affirmative.
<Please do something for this father once in your life.>
Her father said so and left the tower.
Emilie trembled and gazed at the small bottle. She could no longer deny the identity of the bottled liquid.
It was poison.
<This was what my father really wanted from me.>
This is what her father had been hoping for Emilie for a long time. May she disappear from his sight, leave them forever.
Tears streaked down Emilie’s cheeks. Her lifelong desire for her father’s affection was finally rewarded.
‘Why in the world did I….for what…’
Why did she struggle all her life trying to be loved by a man who would eventually come to kill her?
The belated regret ran hotly down on her cheeks.
She wanted to turn everything back. But it’s already too late. There was nowhere to run.
Emilie opened the bottle with trembling hands.
‘If I could be born again…I wouldn’t beg that man for love. I want to live for myself then…just once…’2
***
On the first day of her return. Elisabeth went to see the Trikol hidden in the basement of the Duke of Cabezo.
She visited like she was bewitched by something. Since her father hid Trikol in a place where no one knew about for a few years, Elisabeth would not have seen Trikol until that day.
When she touched the Trikol, there were smoke-filled clouds and the color turned horribly dark.
‘As expected….’
He said it was dyed red when she was born, but since when has she become an ‘impure blood’ that cannot unite the Heart of Olga?
Why the hell did she become ‘impure blood’?
Anyway, in conclusion, Elisabeth knew this but tricked Victoire.
‘Since Victoire tried to use a child for revenge, so I’m just returning it back.’
Elisabeth stamped her feet vigorously. The swing moved gently back and forth. Despite the serious situation, she let out a hum for some reason.
‘It’s just a chair that moves back and forth but it’s so much fun.’
Elisabeth had never been on a proper swing. The swing in the Cabezo family garden was for ornamental purposes. Elisabeth got injured several times when she was a child, she fell while trying to ride the creaky swing. But her father…
<The swing is not for riding.>
…gave her a cold warning. Then her father fixed the swing after Polia said she wanted to ride it.
Of course, even after fixing the swing, it was not Elisabeth’s turn to ride the swing.
At first, Elisabeth, who had no idea, was on the swing, and Polia, in a fit of anger, pushed Elisabeth down. As she fell, Elisabeth’s arms were stamped on the stone and blood was everywhere.
The stepmother, who appeared late, seemed to like it for some reason instead of being surprised to see her blood flowing.
<Go inside and get treated, quick!>
She rushed Elisabeth into the room. Her father, who returned home in the evening, had no idea that Elisabeth was hurt because he was paying attention to Polia who suddenly appeared with a bandage on her arm. In order to hide Elisabeth’s injury, her stepmother and Polia played an act.
“Oh my, why is she riding the swing so hard?”
One of the Count’s employees murmured while passing by. The adopted little lady was riding the swing with a fierce spirit. The girl’s eyes were glaring showing how concentrated she was.
“I guess the rumor is true that he adopted a child of a distant relative. I heard that the relative died from illness while living a poor life because he wasted all their family wealth.”
“If that’s the case, it would be my first time riding such a good swing. The Count, His Grace, has a good heart. Taking a child who has lost her parents.”
“Is that all? Whatever the little lady uses is the best. Her room was even redecorated.”
“He must be happy to have a cute and pretty daughter while raising two sons.”
The employees whispered as they passed by.
***
There was silence on the table. Even the eve of a typhoon would seem to be noisy.
Elisabeth chewed a piece of meat while looking at Victoire and Dylan’s eyes.
‘Ah, it’s delicious… I want to eat faster, but I’m aware of their eyes.’
Elisabeth wanted to eat like Damon, who showed a vigorous appetite as if he had lost his senses.
When I was in the Cabezo family, I followed strict etiquette since I was an ignored (forgotten) child. I thought I had to. But I thought I’d be more like a child here.
‘But from the very start, I’ve had this kind of ambush.’
Victoire and Dylan were unbelievably cold towards each other as father and son. Even though Victoire was the same, Dylan was a child of Victoire and he was very young, but his spirits were no joke.
‘The men in this family are out of the ordinary.’
Come to think of it, Emilie’s father was always sensitive and angry, but he wasn’t a strong man.
‘It’s because of the halo of the Duke of Cabezo showing a bold front.’
Thanks to all this, Elisabeth was crouching among these incredible men.
“Uh, cough!”
Eventually, I drank water and swallowed the wrong way.
“Elisabeth, are you all right?”
“Hang in there, can you breathe properly?”
“Hey, what’s wrong? She’s about to collapse!”
Victoire, Damon and Dylan screamed at the same time. Elisabeth looked around with her eyes wide open.
“Cough!”
She coughed up again.
“Call the physician right now!”
“Calm down and breathe, Elisabeth!”
“Isn’t there something wrong with the food?”
‘It’s not about food, it’s because of you guys……’
It was these men who really needed to calm down. Elisabeth quickly said before they started to make a bigger fuss.
“It’s all right. Cough! I’ve been drinking water and I swallowed the Cough! wrong way!”1
The three men, however, turned pale at the appearance of Elisabeth coughing repeatedly.
‘Why are you making such a fuss?’
It was so embarrassing.
‘Are you doing this because the child you’re going to use should be healthy?’
Perhaps that was the most convincing.
‘As raising pigs is to eat, you’re raising me to use!’
At that moment. Victoire put his hand on Elisabeth’s red forehead. Elisabeth’s eyes grew round.
“You’re eating good food in such a comfortable atmosphere, why would you swallow wrong?”
Victoire tilted his head, puzzled.
“It’s not a comfortable atmosphere.”
Damon hit the nail on the head.
“Why? Because we’re both cold and not saying anything?”
“Is that a problem?”
Dylan and Victoire said.
‘Wow, I knew it.’
Elisabeth was embarrassed. Damon laughed in amazement.
“Does this look like a normal mealtime?”
At Damon’s question, Victoire tilted his head again. They always used to dine like this on thin ice.
“Excuse me, by the way.”
The three men’s eyes all turned to Elisabeth in unison whose small voice interrupted them.
‘Ah, that’s burdensome.’
But if we don’t change the subject like this, these guys, it seems like it won’t end. Elisabeth asked, as innocent as possible.
“Why does Dylan talk impolitely to the Count?”
“You see, Dylan, that kid’s a rude bastard.”
“Victoire’s a jerk.”
At the same time, it was a flurry of answers.
‘They’re not even kids.’
In the end, Elisabeth couldn’t resist and bursted out laughing. The child’s unique innocent laughter resounded. The two men opened their eyes wide with astonishment that someone laughed at their sincere answer.
(V) “Why are you laughing, Elisabeth?”
(Dy) “You think this is funny?”
“You two look so childish.”
Elisabeth’s innocent voice struck the *pit of the stomach of the two men. Damon also giggled. (t/n: literally says solar plexus; idk maybe they got butterflies in their stomach??)
“It’s nice to be on friendly terms.”
Said Elisabeth, who laughed for a long time. The voice was so serious for a child that Victoire even *smiled.
“Oh, you *laughed!” (t/n: re-read this again and again but this is the only way i can interpret it… maybe she mistook his smile as laugh?)
Elisabeth said, jumping with joy.
“Is my laugh something you should be so happy about?”
Asked Victoire, puzzled.
“Of course. I love it when someone laughs because of me.”1
And at the dinner table!
It was unimaginable before. Laughter has always been shared between father and Polia.
She was always hoping. May someone be able to please you, just as the father does to Polia. But now this unexpectedly happened.
“Dylan, you heard Elisabeth, right? You have to get along with Father from now on.”
“What bullshit are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Dylan shoots at Damon.
“Just now, Dylan, you said something bad.”
Said Elisabeth. Dylan said ‘Ha?’ sounding shocked.
“You should understand, Elisabeth. Dylan lived apart from his family when he was young so he’s very crooked. So he’s still in that shape.”
“Really? Dylan?”
“There are so many stories that we can’t tell even among the rich.”
Victoire calmly dissed his son.